A Charlotte man has filed a $1.25 million federal damages claim over a November incident in which he says federal immigration agents smashed his car window and slammed him to the ground, even though he was a U.S. citizen.
Willy Wender Aceituno, 46, is a naturalized citizen from Honduras and is one of five plaintiffs who filed a federal lawsuit last week against U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and leaders of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Border Patrol, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The class-action lawsuit was the first legal salvo from November’s immigration enforcement crackdown that Homeland Security officials called “Operation Charlotte’s Web.”
That operation brought hundreds of agents to the Charlotte area, netting more than 425 arrests. It ignited widespread fear among immigrants and spurred protests among the broader community.
On Tuesday, the ACLU of North Carolina, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, and law firm Tin Fulton Walker & Owen PLLC filed a claim under the Federal Torts Claims Act on Aceituno’s behalf, asking for $1.25 million in damages. The claim came the same day that Noem faced blistering questioning during a Senate Judiciary hearing from U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis over her handling of immigration.
According to the claim, Aceituno was walking toward Baleada Bar & Grille, a Honduran restaurant, on November 15 to pick up a food order. Four Border Patrol agents, masked and wearing sunglasses, surrounded him and backed him against an agency vehicle, asking whether he was a citizen and what his last name was. Aceituno provided a Real ID. After a few minutes, agents confirmed Aceituno was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record, and they allowed Aceituno to go into the restaurant.
Five minutes later, as Aceituno returned to his red 1998 F150 truck, two unmarked vehicles blocked him in, and a separate group of three immigration agents got out. One came by Aceituno’s driver’s side window with a baton and demanded that he roll down his window.
Aceituno insisted he was a U.S. citizen and had identified himself as such just minutes ago to other agents. One of the agents shattered his driver’s side window, and other agents dragged him out of the truck and threw him on the ground. He was handcuffed and taken to an unmarked vehicle with four immigration agents and around seven Latino-appearing people, the claim said.
Aceituno was triggered by the experience, the claim said, because when he was a child, Honduran agents broke into his home and snatched his father away, never to be seen again. The claim said that the immigration agents drove around for 15 minutes before finally checking Aceituno’s Real ID and confirming that he was a U.S. citizen.
The agents dropped Aceituno two miles away from his vehicle, without his key, and when Aceituno asked to be driven back, the agents threatened him with arrest. Aceituno walked 20 to 25 minutes back to his truck. He spent hours getting a replacement key, filing a police report, and getting medical treatment, the claim said.
“Mr. Aceituno’s full account is harrowing,” Michele Delgado, staff attorney at the ACLU of North Carolina, said in a statement. “What he was subjected to is not law enforcement—it’s abuse. And it reflects a broader pattern of aggressive tactics that are inflicting real harm on our communities.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could not be immediately reached for comment.